Ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to confront sexism

Issue 9 • Week of March 13, 2022 / Updated May 15, 2023

Today is Equal Pay Day, symbolizing how far into 2022 the average American woman must work to earn as much as men made in 2021 – two and a half extra months – doing the same job. We can all do our part to call out sexism when we see it, but ultimately American women deserve legal protections only the Constitution can provide.

The Senate sent the Equal Rights Amendment written by Alice Paul in 1923 and revised in 1943 to state legislatures 50 years ago next week. We should not pat ourselves on the back because, contrary to popular belief, it is still not law. As we have seen with the Voting Rights Act, protections can be stripped away if not enshrined in the US Constitution.

Where do we go from here?